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Rob Van Dam: "RVD" Redirects Here. For Other Uses, See

1) Rob Van Dam is an American professional wrestler known for his work in ECW, WWE, and TNA. 2) He gained popularity in ECW in the 1990s before having championship success in WWE in the early 2000s and TNA in the late 2000s/early 2010s. 3) RVD is the only wrestler to hold the WWE Championship, ECW World Heavyweight Championship, and TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

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109 views

Rob Van Dam: "RVD" Redirects Here. For Other Uses, See

1) Rob Van Dam is an American professional wrestler known for his work in ECW, WWE, and TNA. 2) He gained popularity in ECW in the 1990s before having championship success in WWE in the early 2000s and TNA in the late 2000s/early 2010s. 3) RVD is the only wrestler to hold the WWE Championship, ECW World Heavyweight Championship, and TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

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aypod
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© © All Rights Reserved
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"RVD" redirects here. For other uses, see RVD (disambiguation).

Rob Van Dam

Van Dam in 2014

Birth name Rob Szatkowski

Born December 18, 1970 (age 48)[1][2]

Battle Creek, Michigan, United States[1][3]

Residence Las Vegas, Nevada, United States[4]

Sonia Delbeck
Spouse(s) (m. 1998; div. 2018)

Website www.robvandam.com

Professional wrestling career


Ring name(s) Robbie V[3]

Rob Szatkowski[3]
Rob Van Dam[5]

Billed height 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[6]

Billed weight 235 lb (107 kg)[6]

Billed from Battle Creek, Michigan[7]

Los Angeles, California[8]

Trained by Ed Farhat[1][3]

Debut 1990[1][3]

Rob Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970), better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD), is an
American professional wrestler and actor who is signed to Impact Wrestling. Throughout his career, he has worked for multiple
organizations including Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E), and Total Nonstop
Action Wrestling (TNA). Van Dam has won 21 total championships, and is the only wrestler in history to have held the WWE Championship,
the ECW World Heavyweight Championship, and the TNA World Heavyweight Championship (once holding the WWE and ECW titles
simultaneously within WWE).
Van Dam gained mainstream popularity in ECW before also having success in WWE and TNA. Between ECW, WWF/E, and TNA, Van
Dam headlined many pay-per-view events throughout three decades between the 1990s and 2010s, including the 1998 edition
of November to Remember (ECW flagship event) and 2011 edition of TripleMania (AAA flagship event). In 2002, Van Dam was ranked
the number one pro wrestler in the world by Pro Wrestling Illustrated. He was voted "Most Popular Wrestler" by readers of the magazine in
2001 and again in 2002. WWE named him the greatest star in ECW history in 2014.[9]

Contents

 1Background
 2Professional wrestling career
o 2.1Early career (1990–1995)
o 2.2World Championship Wrestling (1992–1993)
o 2.3Extreme Championship Wrestling
 2.3.1Feuding and teaming with Sabu (1996–1998)
 2.3.2World Television Champion (1998–2001)
o 2.4World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
 2.4.1The Invasion (2001)
 2.4.2Intercontinental Champion (2001–2002)
 2.4.3Teaming and feuding with Kane (2002–2003)
 2.4.4Championship reigns (2003–2005)
 2.4.5WWE and ECW World Heavyweight Champion (2005–2007)
o 2.5Return to the independent circuit (2007–2010)
o 2.6Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
 2.6.1World Heavyweight Champion and EV 2.0 (2010–2011)
 2.6.2Championship pursuits (2011–2012)
 2.6.3X Division Champion (2012–2013)
o 2.7Return to WWE (2013–2014)
o 2.8Second return to the independent circuit (2015–present)
o 2.9Return to Impact Wrestling (2019–present)
o 2.10WWE cameo appearance (2019)
 3Other media
o 3.1Filmography
o 3.2Voice acting
 4Personal life
o 4.1Training
o 4.22006 arrest
 5Championships and accomplishments
 6Notes
 7References
 8External links

Background[edit]
Szatkowski grew up in Battle Creek, Michigan and graduated from Pennfield Senior High School. Szatkowski made his first appearance on
WWF television in 1987 in a skit with "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. At the time, DiBiase was selecting plants from the audience and
offering to pay them to perform degrading acts and offered the 16-year-old Szatkowski $100 to enter the ring and kiss his foot, which he
did.[10] This early appearance was later included as a bonus feature on WWE's Before They Were Superstars DVD and on WWE's Rob Van
Dam: One of a Kind DVD.[11] He was also in attendance at WrestleMania III as stated on The Hulk Hogan: The Ultimate Anthology DVD.

Professional wrestling career[edit]


Early career (1990–1995)[edit]
Szatkowski made his wrestling debut in 1990, defeating Dango Nguyen.[1] The name "Rob Van Dam" was given to him in 1991 by Ron
Slinker, a promoter in Florida, possibly because of his martial arts experience and his resemblance to actor Jean-Claude Van
Damme.[12] He wrestled in many independent promotions across Michigan, including the United States Wrestling Association (USWA)
and South Atlantic Pro Wrestling (SAPW). In SAPW, he won his first wrestling championship, the SAPW Tag Team Championship, in July
1992 with Chaz Rocco.[13] He also wrestled in several independent promotions across America, and in All Japan Pro Wrestling, where he
challenged for the World Junior Heavyweight Championship on several occasions.[14]

World Championship Wrestling (1992–1993)[edit]


He signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in late 1992 and was dubbed Robbie V by Ron Slinker upon his arrival since Bill
Watts did not like the name Rob Van Dam.[15] Robbie made his WCW debut on the January 23, 1993 episode of Saturday Night as a fan
favorite, defeating enhancement talent Pat Rose. The following month, Robbie V entered a tournament for the vacant World Television
Championship, defeating Shanghai Pierce in the first round but lost to Vinnie Vegas in the second round, which aired on the March 20
episode of WorldWide. His last televised match was on the May 22 episode of Saturday Night, a tag team loss with Erik
Watts against Shanghai Pierce and Tex Slazenger.[16]

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